HOUSTON -- Summer is here and you and your family are probably planning a vacation. Do you know the steps to protect yourself while traveling? Armed with hidden cameras, Local 2 Investigates checked into two Houston-area hotels -- walked the floors and checked the doors -- all to show you where you are most vulnerable.

"Remember, this is a temporary residence. This is not your home and you cannot expect the security to be the same," said security expert Austin Davis.

The setup was simple. A Local 2 intern checked into two hotels. Then, Local 2 Investigates asked Davis to see if he could figure out what room our intern was in and try to get a key to her room.

With our hidden cameras rolling at the first hotel, Davis pretended to be a guest by standing in the lobby. Our intern checked in and within 10 minutes, Davis found out her last name and her exact room number. Three hours later, Davis got a key to our intern's room. How did this happen?

When our intern checked in, the front desk clerk asked for her last name and she said it out loud. That was the first mistake. Never announce personal information because anyone standing in the lobby can hear it. Instead, hand the front desk clerk your ID and credit card. Also, never allow the clerk to announce your room number.

"If he had announced my room number or my floor number, I probably would have said I need another room," said Davis.

At the first hotel, the clerk did not announce our room number, but he did tell our intern her room was on the ninth floor. Just from standing in the lobby Davis now knows our intern's last name and that her room is on the ninth floor.

"It gave me information I didn't need and she didn't need," said Davis. "He already pointed to what room she is in and is drawing the map. So, he just gave me the key to find out where she was."

As our intern left the front desk, Davis walked down a side hallway then made his way back to the elevator. He rode in the elevator with our intern and got off on the ninth floor, pretending to be a guest heading to another room.

At that point, he watched which room our intern entered, which then gave him her exact room number. Davis said this is why it is critically important for people to pay attention to who is in the elevator or in the hallway. Davis said if someone makes you uncomfortable, then get off on a different floor than your room or go back down to the front desk.

"My entry into the hallway was only the first part of the crime," said Davis. "If I wanted to bum rush her at the door when she was fumbling with the lock, I could have gotten in the door right then, and then no problem."

But how did Davis get a key to her room?

Remember, Davis heard our intern's last name in the lobby and was then able to spot her room number. Davis then went to the front desk and pretended his key did not work. The clerk asked what room he was in and the last name on the account. The clerk never asked to see Davis' ID or bothered to notice the room was registered to a woman.

"He didn't know who I was. He did not know if I had a right to be in here. My name was nowhere on there," said Davis.

Yet, the clerk handed over a key to the room. Twenty-five minutes later, the clerk called our intern's room and asked if everything was OK. Neither Local 2 nor Davis can be certain whether the call was a late welcome call or if the clerk realized he made a mistake by handing over that key. If the call was because the clerk was worried about our intern, then Davis said he still did not do his job because he did not tell her someone came down asking for a key to her room.

"We have an existing hazard. I have a key to this woman's room and she doesn't know that someone's got a key there," said Davis.

Local 2 also spotted other problems at this hotel. Guests left their room doors propped open, making it easy for anyone to walk inside.

"It amazes me when I go through a hotel, how many times I see a door ajar," said Davis. "The reason the hotel went to great expense and effort to put all those security devices on the doors and windows is to keep you safe. Make sure you use them. It doesn't matter how good the locks are if you don't have them engaged."

Another problem was the hotel's side entrance. This entrance is only supposed to open if a person has a room key. When Local 2 was there, we saw the door did not close all the way, making it easy for us to slip down a side hallway to the elevator.

"I had to pass by the front desk to get the information where she was, but when I left and I came back, I didn't have to pass by anybody who could have recognized me," said Davis. "I could have entered this hotel with a hockey mask and a chainsaw and nobody would have seen it."

Local 2 then had our intern check into a different hotel, in a different part of Houston on a different day. This time, the front desk clerk was excellent He never announced any personal information. When Davis tried to get a key to the room, the clerk at this hotel stopped him.

"I have to get confirmation, you know, because she asked for one key," the clerk told Davis. "Unless the person who actually checked in asks for it, she didn't ask for two keys, she didn't mention that you were going with her. Unless she authorizes it, I cannot let you in."

"They had a lot of foot traffic coming up to the desk but they did not let the confusion get in the way of their security procedures," said Davis.

On the way up to the room, Local 2 spotted several unused room keys sitting out in the open on a service cart in the hallway. Local 2 then asked Davis to see if another clerk would be as safe as the first one.

Davis again pretended he had a key that did not work. The clerk never asked for Davis' ID or called the room to ask our intern if it was all right to give out a key to her room. The clerk only asked for the room number and the last name before giving Davis a key.

"If you tell me you're in a room, then I need to see proper identification to be able to verify that against our records," said Joan Johnson, the president of the Hotel and Lodging Association of Greater Houston.

Johnson said hotels are constantly training staff not to give out room keys without checking identification or getting authorization from the person who paid for the room. Johnson said that training does not always stick.

"I'm really appreciative that you're doing this story because it gives us an opportunity to say, 'Hey, we need to do some more training,' and it says to the guest, 'Be aware,'" she said.

Johnson said never leave personal items in the open when leaving a room, either take the items with you, put the items in a room safe or in the hotel safety deposit box behind the front desk. Johnson also warns not write your room number on your key.

"If you lose that key, then somebody now knows what room you are in," said Johnson.

Johnson also recommends not putting the ‘Please Clean Room' sign on your door.

"If somebody is going to try to get into your room, that's a sign that this room is empty," said Johnson, who recommends calling down to the front desk to request maid service.

Davis also recommends not getting a room near a stairwell. "A stairwell is a perfect place for a bad guy to hide."

"Crime happens when motive meets opportunity," said Davis. "You can't do anything about the motive, but you can do a lot about the opportunity."

If still think you're not vulnerable, imagine being a bride who had her wedding dress stolen while on her honeymoon. It happened and we've got the story Friday night at 10 p.m.